Illusions of Sleep
by writersblock159
Summary: Nightmares are a part of life for team RWBY, and Ruby does her best to keep up with them. A comforting word here, a conversation there, and all is okay. Until she's the one that wakes up screaming. Now it's Blake's turn to help her friend, whether she likes it or not. The question is: what could cause the ever bubbly, cheerful, and optimistic Ruby Rose to fear her own mind?


**Two fics in two days? It's almost like I have a muse again!**

**Fair warning, this does jump (in a linear manner) through seasons 1-3. Let me know if you get lost, and I'll try to fix it on the flipside. My beta figured it out, but she's amazing.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned RWBY there would be much stronger adult themes in some episode, and Pyrrha would have jumped Jaune by day two.**

**Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the wider Gobi. The muse got away again, and seems to think that I won't eventually find her.**

* * *

_"When the darkness creeps in,_

_I feel my nightmares watching me._

_And when my dreams are sleeping,_

_I feel my nightmares watching me."_

_Nightmares- Ed Sheeran_

* * *

The first weekend had been fun.

Blake was a firm believer in camaraderie. It was one of the few things the White Fang _hadn't_ completely disillusioned her to, but she had not expected Ruby's first action (that wasn't about cleaning or unpacking) as team leader to be demanding a gaming night.

Yang, of course, supported her sister, and while Weiss seemed far from thrilled with the idea, the combined optimism and bubbly excitement exuded from the sisters eventually warmed her icy demeanor.

Blake herself had fared no better in the face of Yang and Ruby's enthusiasm; combined with Weiss' attitude of 'if I must suffer through this, you will too.' Therefore their first Friday evening in Beacon was spent playing cards, getting to know her teammates, and generally just having fun. Stupid songs, funny stories, and dumb jokes filled the night. By the time the sunlight poured through the shades, the four of them were exhausted and, cursing how early it was, they fell into their beds and slept until noon.

Blake remembered that mostly because it was the first night since she'd left the White Fang that she hadn't struggled with nightmares, instead sleeping straight through to lunch.

But the next night she couldn't sleep.

While she was sure that was partly because she had pretty much blown her sleep schedule by spending the entire night before wide awake, she was also honest enough with herself to know the real reason. Simply put, she didn't want to face the demons that would inevitably rear their heads as soon as she closed her eyes.

Sighing, the cat faunus sat up, listening carefully. Weiss was asleep, if the loud snores across the room were any indication. Ruby's nearly still chest was steadily rising and falling, and it sounded like Yang's breathing was slow and measured. Satisfied that her teammates were, in fact, asleep, Blake noiselessly made her way across the room and grabbed her training gear. She had just gotten dressed when her ears twitched at a sudden, soft noise.

"...Ruby."

Glancing back, she saw her partner roll over and nearly jumped in surprise.

The moonlight filtering in through the window showed Yang's face in full detail, including her wide open eyes. "Ruby," the brawler whispered, once again rolling over, her thrashing legs kicking the blankets off.

"Ruby, no!" Though it was barely above a whisper, the cat faunus could hear the panic in her friend's voice. "No, no!" The blonde sat up, her eyes now glowing red. Blake was debating with herself about trying to reassure her partner when she heard a soothing voice.

"Yang, it's okay. _I'm_ okay." Within a moment Ruby had clambered down her bed and was standing next to Yang's, one hand on her sister's arm, the other stroking the edge of her hair. "It was just a dream."

"It was that stupid Death Stalker. It had you, just like before. But this time I couldn't get to you; you just kept getting farther and farther out of reach…" The brawler's voice was shaky and Blake had heard enough midnight dream summaries to know that there was little chance her partner _wasn't_ crying into her bedsheets. "I'm sorry, Ruby, I was supposed to protect you-"

"Shhhh. Yang, you did protect me. Maybe not from the last strike, but that's why I have a partner, to help." Blake was starting to feel like an intruder, witnessing this tender moment between sisters. "You can't keep me safe all the time, so I guess you'll just have to let Weiss pick up the slack."

The snort from the blonde reassured both Ruby and Blake. The brawler was feeling better. Ruby went back to her bed, and Blake watched as her partner lay down and tried to get back to sleep. A few minutes later, the faunus stepped out of the shadows, as she passed Yang's bed she paused, a thought crossing her mind.

"I don't know if this is worth anything, but I think you should know I'm watching out for her too." The blonde didn't respond to Blake's declaration, which left the faunus feeling a mixture of relief and disappointment. Still, hopefully it would settle in Yang's subconscious mind and keep the nightmares away.

Slipping out the door, the faunus swore she could hear the words, "I got your back too, Blake." Looking back over the sleeping forms of her teammates, she couldn't see which one might have spoken.

* * *

Blake woke with a loud hiss, her ears flat back.

Slowly calming, she tried to put the thought of the nightmare that had interrupted her sleep out of her mind. Lying back, she closed her eyes, trying to ignore the image of her friends leaving her, seeing Adam kill Weiss in 'retaliation', the terrible things he had done to the rest of her team to show her 'who was in charge'...

They were just nightmares, nothing more.

The rustle of fabric caught her attention. Peeking through her eyelids, she saw Ruby climbing down from her perch on the top bed. Blake cursed her luck and tried to pretend to be asleep.

Poke.

Oh, she did not just-

Poke.

The cat faunus cracked an eye, giving her team leader a look that hopefully conveyed just how annoyed she was at being 'woken up'. Oddly enough, Ruby was lacking her usual smile. Instead there was concern and...something else in her hard silver eyes.

"Can you take a walk with me, Blake? Please?" Ruby's voice was quiet.

Raising an eyebrow, the cat faunus kept one eye closed, still feigning sleepiness. "What time is it?" Glancing at her scroll, she saw that it was a bit after two AM. "Ruby, do we have to-?"

"No," the dark haired girl cut her off, "we don't, but I do need to talk with you, and since we're both awake…" Ruby trailed off.

"I was _asleep_." Blake halfheartedly complained, swinging her legs over the bed. Glancing at her teammate, she was surprised to see the younger girl was already dressed and apparently unconvinced of her last lie. As soon as Blake had pulled on clothes, Ruby turned and walked toward the door, obviously expecting Blake to follow.

Slipping into the hall, the cat faunus reflected on the changes in her life. There had been a time when it would have been her who led and expected others to follow. Now she was following a girl two years younger than herself who had felt the need to drag her out of bed at two in the morning. True, she hadn't been asleep when Ruby had asked, and she wasn't likely to get any more rest tonight, but just lying in bed was a nice feeling on its own.

Not as good as a nap in the sun, but a close second.

Ruby continued to walk through the corridors, apparently unconcerned by the fact that they were out after curfew. Eventually they made their way to the stairs that connected the different levels of the dorm. Blake continued following as her team leader began to climb up. Eventually they reached the top, and Ruby took two lefts before slipping out an open window. Curious, Blake followed.

She found herself in a little area that showed signs of being used for training. Ruby perched on the edge of a box and looked at the cat faunus, a serious look on her face.

"Today never should have happened."

Blake bit back a retort, opting for a curt nod instead. She had expected this, though she had thought it would come from one of her teachers, not from Ruby. The huntress trainee had been nothing but bright and cheerful since they had met. Even being elevated to team leader had not dented her optimism and enthusiasm. Many times Blake had wondered how Yang managed to deal with her sister's endless cheer. Seeing her act like a leader was… strange, though she couldn't fault the girl. If Blake had been in charge of someone who was keeping secrets that put her old cell at risk, she would have had this conversation too.

"You _left us_, Blake." Ruby's tone was gentle but still serious. "I understand that you wanted to keep this close to your chest, and I can't blame you considering Weiss is one of the people you regularly went out of your way to hurt-"

The cat faunus let out a snort of derision. There was no doubt in her mind that her actions had done nothing more than inconvenience the head of the Schnee Dust Company, much less cause his youngest daughter any harm. Ruby narrowed her eyes.

"-Ignoring the fact that you apparently don't see anything wrong with your actions, Weiss did, rightly or wrongly. The two of you will be holding each other's lives in your hands in the near future, so I _suggest_," the tone of Ruby's voice made it clear that it was anything but a suggestion, "that you work with her to clear the air a bit more. That way there won't be any lasting resentment that may affect the team."

Blake nodded stiffly. Though taking orders from a fifteen-year-old was annoying, Ruby was right. Briefly, she wondered if this was the way some of her former associates felt when she had similar conversations with them in the White Fang. There was one thing she wanted to clarify, however. "My actions in the White Fang _were_ wrong."

Ruby didn't look impressed, dismissing the declaration with a shrug. "I recommend you tell Weiss that. It'll go a long way to mending your relationship." The silver-eyed girl looked out over the city, apparently thinking about what else she wanted to say. Finally, she spun around on the box and patted the spot next to her. "I have something else I want to talk to you about, but it's less…" She trailed off, and Blake moved to join her.

"Serious?" the cat faunus offered, sitting on the box.

The smaller girl shook her head. "No, it's still serious, but I'm talking to you as Ruby, your friend, not your team leader." Blake gave another nod and waited. Eventually her friend began speaking again. "Blake, since I started sharing a room with you, I have noticed you tend to sleep very little."

"I sleep lightly. During my time with the White Fang I learned to do more on less sleep." The excuse sounded weak to her own ears, but the faunus didn't want to burden her friends any more than she already had. Ruby's shaking head made her stomach plummet.

"I don't doubt that your time with the White Fang had some effect on your sleep patterns, but that's not what I'm talking about." Her friend turned her head, and Blake found herself pinned with an intense silver gaze. "Blake, we've been here how long now? Five months? More?" The faunus nodded, her mind already trying to figure out where this was going. None of the options she saw were particularly good. Best case scenario, she had to let her partner's little sister down gently. She doubted it would be anything so simple, though. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a bit of a light sleeper myself. Though I can say I didn't have to join a terrorist cell to get that. It's just genetic on my mom's side." Blake chuckled and Ruby grinned a bit at her own joke. "This means that when _anything_ happens in our room I'm usually woken by it, including the hissing of a cat on the bottom bunk across the room."

Blake closed her eyes in defeat. "How long did you know?"

"I suspected after the first week. Once is chance, twice coincidence, third a pattern, you know? I thought that Yang had smuggled a cat in for awhile, but eventually I figured it out."

"Oh." The faunus sighed, opening her eyes. So much for being careful. "Why didn't you confront me?"

Ruby shrugged, looking out to the city, far below. "What would I say? 'I know you're a faunus, but I don't care and it doesn't affect anything, so good job?'" Blake had to admit, when phrased like that, it did seem a bit ridiculous. "You didn't want me to know, and I figured you'd tell me when you were ready."

"So this is the part where you ask me if I have any more secrets? Or confront me with more secrets that I didn't want you to know but you somehow have inexplicably figured out?" Blake crossed her arms defensively as Ruby began giggling.

"Not at all," the smaller girl got out between laughs, looking at the cat faunus. "I just wanted to ask you if the nightmares have been getting any better."

Blake took a deep breath in through her teeth, uncomfortable with the direction the questioning had started to take. "They're...less frequent."

The silver eyed girl nodded in acceptance, placing her hand on the faunus's arm. Blake tried hard not to flinch. "I'm not going to force you to tell me if you don't want to, but Yang occasionally has bad dreams, and I know it helps her to talk about them."

The cat-eared girl sighed in defeat, slowly relaxing as her friend rubbed her arm soothingly. "I guess it all started with a former... friend named Adam…" She proceeded to explain, glossing over the details, how she was afraid he would find her and drag her back to her old life. How after meeting her friends, her team, that fear became much more. How some nights the dreams only consisted of being dragged back into her old life, with the threat of violence against RWBY keeping her there. While others the entire team would be kidnapped and tortured, sometimes ransomed back, other times, "...I can see his face sometimes. The sinister smile he would get when things were going his way. I can see it when he-" something in her throat caught, and something wet landed on her hands, which were carefully folded on her lap. Reaching up, she felt her face was wet. "Am I crying?"

"Yes," Ruby said, pulling her into a hug. "You are crying, but it's okay. If this guy ever gets close to you, he'll have to go through us to get you."

"I don't want that. That's how it starts-"

"But it'll end differently, you'll see." The smaller girl tightened her hug slightly. "Team RWBY may not be unstoppable, but we're pretty darn good at kicking bad guy's butts. Just look at what we did to Torchwick today!" Blake felt something between a laugh and a sob force itself out at that declaration. "We're your friends, Blake. We have your back no matter what."

Her teammate continued to hold the cat faunus, even as she bawled into the smaller girl's shoulder. Eventually Blake was all cried out, though the two didn't break the hug for a bit. Finally Ruby pulled back. "It's three thirty. We should get some sleep."

Blake rose with her friend. "I suppose. We do have school tomorrow."

"No, _you_ have school tomorrow." As the cat faunus looked at her team leader in surprise, Ruby laughed. "Tomorrow is Saturday, but you've skipped a bit more class than us, and you're going to need to catch up!" Her friend grabbed her hand, and Blake allowed herself to be pulled back inside.

As the two made their way back to the dorm room, Ruby added, "If you ever need to talk, just let me know. I'm available any time." Blake nodded, already reaching for the door when her friend grabbed her other hand and met her eyes. "_Any time_, Blake."

"Thank you, Ruby." Blake opened the door, allowing her friend to enter.

"I got your back, Blake." The younger girl climbed directly into her bed, not even bothering to change.

A moment later the cat faunus also fell into bed, and though she thought her mind was too busy to consider sleeping, she was asleep almost instantly.

That was the first of many more peaceful nights.

* * *

Weiss had started sleeping with Myrtenaster.

It had started innocuously enough; she had needed to clean it one night and nodded off part way through, if the still open bottle of rubbing alcohol and box of polish were any indication. Eventually, however, it wasn't uncommon for Weiss to get up shortly after the four of them had gone to bed and sneak it back in. Blake kept an eye on her; there didn't seem to be any reason for the sudden clinginess, but she was hardly one to comment on other's sleeping arrangements when it came to weapons. After all, she had suffered her own security concerns shortly after she started participating in the more... militant activities of the White Fang, but she had eventually moved past the urge to sleep with Gambol Shroud every night.

That didn't mean she didn't keep it within arm's reach of her bed or that she slept completely unarmed.

She had more than a few enemies, after all.

The strange thing was that, unlike Blake, who didn't start sleeping with a blade until she was an active member of a terrorist organization and had been in several armed clashes, Weiss was actually much better off. Yes, the team had fought Grimm… and the White Fang… and whatever Torchwick counted as (a mob boss, she supposed)… and the mysterious infiltrator at the dance...

Actually, come to think of it, maybe Weiss had the right idea. Blake might move Gambol Shroud back into her bed again.

A loud slamming sound brough the faunus out of her wool-gathering as Weiss stormed in, a scowl on her face. "She just doesn't get it!" Flopping onto the bed, the white-haired girl glared at the ceiling, either unaware or uncaring of her audience. "I can tell her a thousand times that I'm fine, but she_ just doesn't get it_!"

"Trouble with your partner?" Blake asked dryly, grabbing a book off her desk where she'd been sitting.

Weiss snorted. "When isn't there? When she isn't trying to be 'best friends' with me, she's butting into things that are, quite frankly, none of her business!"

Deciding she didn't want to know, the cat faunus turned to the book in her hands. It was a trashy romance novel, but really, who cared? It wasn't like she had had much luck in that department, so it was nice to read about others that did.

"Like, really!" The heiress was apparently unaware her audience didn't care and had decided to move on to reading. "Today she asked me _again_ about how I'm feeling! I've told her a hundred times that I'm fine, but she just gives me this _look_ like she thinks I'm lying and tells me I can talk to her about _anything_." Blake tried to tune her teammate out, but a byproduct of Weiss' high pitched voice was how whiny it could get when she was upset and complaining.

Which was actually fairly often, now that the dark-haired faunus thought about it.

"I think she's been talking more to Port and Oobleck. Both of them have always tried to help first year team leaders." _Boy, does she sound bitter about that,_ Blake idly noted, turning a page in her book. "So I know they've probably told her something about how to lead. I've read the books too, and I know she's just trying to get inside my head to-"

"Build bridges." Blake interrupted, annoyed. She snapped her book closed; reading would have to wait. Turning to face her roommate, she explained her reasoning. "She is _trying_ to take care of her team members and the woman who is going to have her life in her hands for the next few years. She's trying to be a _leader_. Trust me when I say it's not easy." Weiss had finally shut up and was gaping at her, though in surprise or indignation the cat faunus didn't know, and quite honestly didn't care either. Taking a deep breath, the dark-haired huntress trainee continued, a bit calmer, "If I had to guess, Ruby has noticed, as have I, that you are bringing Myrtenaster to bed with you at every opportunity."

The white haired girl spluttered, "Y- I mean n- I mean wha- how-?" Blake held up her hand to forestall any more half-words.

"You aren't as sneaky as you think you are, at least not to me. I actually don't care if you take a Grimm plushie to bed if it helps you sleep, but Ruby is probably worried." Turning, the cat faunus grabbed her book and began clearing her desk. "Weiss, you and I have had our differences, and we probably will have a few more before school is over, but I do consider you a friend. I've explained my past to you, something I don't do for just anyone, so I want you to know that I have the best intentions when I say: shut up and talk to someone. I recommend Ruby since, knowing her, she won't rest until she's certain you're actually doing okay. But if you want to talk to someone else, I can clear my schedule."

"I… I need to think about it." Weiss' voice was quiet and hesitant.

"Yes, you do." Blake crossed to her bed, where she had left her backpack. A sudden idea seized her."You aren't alone in wanting to be cautious, you know." Ignoring the voice in her head screaming at her to stop, she flipped down her bedsheets and pointed to the blade carefully attached to a pocket sewn inside the blanket. "I just recommend something a bit smaller and easier to use in close quarters." Re-making her bed and grabbing her room key, she ignored the look of shock on her teammate's face. Blake was almost to the door when Weiss finally found her voice.

"Why did you show me that?"

Blake paused, her hand on the door handle, ruthlessly suppressing the urge to just throw the door open and run. Instead, she inspected her feelings, forcing herself to answer. Indeed, why _had_ she offered up such a personal piece of information? "I..." She licked her lips nervously. "I suppose I just wanted you to know you aren't the only one, you know? It may not be something that is always talked about in polite company, and obviously I wouldn't tell everyone, since part of the reason I have that is for...safety, but I guess…" She looked back. Weiss had resumed her normal cool demeanor, arms crossed, lips pursed. The only hint that something might be off was her slightly raised eyebrows. "I trust you, Weiss." With that Blake pulled open the door and left, trying desperately not to run down the hall.

Later she would learn from Ruby that Weiss had been feeling a bit exposed without her family's security around and had been trying to deal with nightmares. At first Blake had been horrified at how Ruby had just shared the information without even considering Weiss' feelings. The red-clad girl had a bit of a surprise for her, however.

"Weiss wanted you to know."

"What? Why?"

"She wanted me to tell you, and she was insistent I use these words, 'I trust you too, Blake.'"

* * *

The blood-curdling screams were even louder than Weiss' snores.

Granted, Blake didn't have a lot of time to compare the volumes of the two; because while the screaming continued for a bit, the snoring stopped almost immediately. Pulling herself out of what had been a _very_ restful sleep, she was shocked to realize the screams in question were coming from the top bunk.

Specifically Ruby's bunk.

Blake leapt out of her bed, nearly running into Weiss, who had apparently also located the source of the screaming, which was now turning into incomprehensible yelling. Yang joined the two of them a moment later, the three of them looking at where Ruby was thrashing in the blankets, her arms tangled in the sheet that covered her bed.

"What do we do?" Weiss asked, eyes wide, as their leader's yelling changed to body wracking sobs.

Yang had just begun to climb up the bed to get her sister down when the silver eyed girl sat up and, still sobbing, swung her legs over the edge of the bed.

And pushed herself off.

A mad scramble ensued as each of the girls leapt forward, Blake and Weiss tripped over each other in their haste to help catch the girl. Yang actually got in position to catch her sister, only to be pushed by her roommates. Losing her balance, the blonde fell forward, pushing Ruby onto Weiss' mattress. Unfortunately for the youngest of the quartet, falling from a height onto something springy like a mattress will inevitably lead to Newton's Third Law coming into effect. Being pushed onto the bed diffused some of her momentum, but much of it was simply redirected into horizontal, rather than vertical, force. This led to her bouncing off the bed and onto the floor with a loud thump and an equally loud, "Umph!"

At least that's what Blake could deduce from sound alone, as her vision was now dominated by a vast amount of hair.

Extracting herself from the tangle of limbs that currently made up three of the four members of Team RWBY (Team 'wubby'? Blake dismissed _that_ thought quickly because, really? Wubby?) Blake made her way to where Ruby was curled in the fetal position. Their normally vibrant leader was gasping loudly for air and sobbing intermittently. Yang shoved past her, cuddling her sister to her chest protectively.

"...Yang?" Ruby's voice was quiet, broken, and childlike. "Is that… Are you okay?"

Light flooded the room, and Blake squinted at Weiss, who was standing next to the light switch and blinking rapidly. Yang seemed unaffected by the sudden change; looking back at the duo, the cat faunus couldn't see Ruby's face since it was hidden by her sister's hair. Kneeling down next to the two of them, Blake rested a hand on her leader's shoulder. It was still trembling, occasionally spasming with a sob. She felt more than saw Weiss join them on the floor, the girl's concern for Ruby outweighing her care for her 'designer nightgown.'

"We're all here, Ruby." Weiss was running her hand through the younger girl's dark hair. "I'm pretty sure you woke half the dorm." Blake winced as she felt the smaller girl try to curl up even more, and Yang gave the white haired girl a dark look.

"Hey, I don't think she meant it like that," Yang gently spoke to her sister, her glare unfaltering, "and I'm sure that she'll _apologize any moment now_."

Weiss nodded. "I'm sorry. I just was trying to joke."

Blake slowly rubbed the shoulder that she had her hand on, feeling the small body it was attached to begin to relax again. She was quite concerned, but when it came to nightmares, it was best to let the dreamer share as they wanted—

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Of course the Schnee heiress was one of those people who thought she knew everything.

Weiss had started stroking the smaller girl's hair again, but it was suddenly pulled away from her as Ruby shook her head violently.

"What do you _want_ us to do?" Blake asked calmly, continuing her ministrations.

"Stay… please." Ruby's voice sounded so crushed in that moment, the faunus actually wanted to wrap the small girl in a hug and tell her everything was going to be alright.

The three of them stood vigil over their leader, until finally, with help from the demo- _dog_, Ruby finally fell asleep. Yang effortlessly lifted both Ruby and Zwei, who had snuggled into the younger girl as soon as he was sure that the loud noises had ended, and put them on Weiss' bed. Leaving the lights on, the blonde walked to the door and motioned for both Weiss and Blake to join her outside.

Weiss looked like she wanted to protest the location of the dog on her bed, but Blake gave her a nudge to keep her quiet. Ruby was asleep. That was important, and if the heiress started complaining she was liable to wake the poor girl up.

The fact that if Weiss complained enough, Yang would move the dog (and Ruby) to Blake's bed played no part in the rather forceful nudge. None _whatsoever_.

The two joined Yang in the hall, and the brawler sighed tiredly as she closed the door behind them. "I'm sorry. She hasn't had an episode like this since she was four, after we got ambushed by Grimm when I went looking for my mother."

"What _was_ that?" Weiss looked at the door as if she was trying to see the girl on the other side.

"Night terror." Blake was met with two looks of surprise. "I read more than just romance novels, you know," she responded drolly, earning an apologetic look from Weiss and a nod from Yang.

"Yeah, she suffered from a couple of them when she was younger. I guess they're back." The blonde sighed heavily. "I just wanted to tell you. She _should_ sleep the rest of the night peacefully, but I didn't want to take the chance, hence why I left her on your bed, Weiss."

The heiress snorted, her eyes betraying her concern. "I'm sure that I can survive one night in your sister's bed."

It spoke volumes about how upset Yang was that she didn't make a sarcastic joke in response to that obvious setup. "Thank you. Just… please don't pressure her about this. She'll talk about it when she's ready. Until then, just act like everything is normal. Don't treat her any different."

Blake nodded, watching Weiss do the same out of the corner of her eye. Yang sighed in relief before going back inside, the other two trailing after her. A few minutes later Blake was staring up at the bottom of her partner's bed, mind awhirl with thoughts. Night terrors were traumatizing at the best of times, but what worried her most was what caused it. The battle in Vale had been vicious and the train showdown on the way from Mountain Glenn had been intense, but no more so than anything the group had faced before. She understood that Yang had nearly been killed (and she felt exceedingly guilty about that) but what concerned her the most was that Ruby, a 15 year old girl, had been left alone with a terrorist group and an amoral mob boss for far too long. She could be wrong, of course, there might be another reason that the leader of their group had been unable to deal with the mental strain.

And she hoped there was.

* * *

Ruby apologized the next day.

Blake waved it away, as did Weiss, and Yang took it in stride. It made their leader feel better, though, and that's all that really mattered. Blake was constantly on the lookout for… something… after that. Any indication that her friend had suffered more than just a few brusque questions and a few blows. Fortunately, the night terror seemed to be a one time occurrence as far as the cat eared faunus could tell. Yang and Weiss seemed to forget about it, their own family problems weighing heavier on their shoulders. Yang had been gutted by her mother's appearance and subsequent vanishing, and Weiss was upset with Winter...or maybe she was unhappy because Winter seemed upset with her. Every time the white haired girl was asked, she would just mutter about her family and find something to do or change the subject.

Something to deal with in the future.

Ruby was still as excitable and as cheerful as her annoying puppy, but while there hadn't been any more night terrors as disruptive as the first one, they _had_ continued. Blake's sleeping habits had been tested lately, her own nightmares making a comeback every now and again, and she'd been regularly woken by a sleepwalking Ruby. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but the girl had also managed to injure herself several times, and the cat faunus had to wake her friend when the dreams got too violent.

The problem was that Ruby still wasn't opening up to anyone.

Blake didn't care if her leader told _her_ what was wrong; she just wanted the girl to tell _someone_. Unfortunately, with Yang's mind on the festival and her mother, and Weiss' thoughts focused on her sister and the upcoming round with team FNKI, Ruby no doubt felt addressing her issues would be an unwelcome diversion. The… person Ruby kept hanging out with wasn't any help either. The cat faunus had met the individual known as 'Penny' and her thoughts boiled down to two things: 'naive' and 'smells wrong.' Penny was not the right one to help Ruby, nor was she the girl she pretended to be. Blake had met welders before, and they smelled like metal and chemicals, Penny smelled like paint, metal, and electronics, a rather strange combination for a full time huntress trainee. There wasn't any sort of organic smell with her.

No, whatever Penny was, she certainly wasn't human. Ruby seemed to know that, however, and Blake trusted her friend's judgement. That said, her leader needed to talk to someone soon, preferably before she broke down from suppressing her emotions.

Stabbing her lunch with a bit more vehemence then was probably warranted, the cat faunus mentally sorted her ideas about how to help her friend. There was the ever popular 'drop hints' option, and of course she could always just wait and watch in hopes that the girl would eventually just open up on her own. But she was leaning toward more of a 'Yang option.' The kind that would get results immediately, but at the cost of blundering around and making a mess of things.

The loud clattering of a lunch tray across the table pulled her out of her thoughts. Well, speak of the devil.

"Ugh." The blonde brawler sank into the seat across from her partner. "I've been watching FNKI's recordings from the first round."

"See anything important?" Blake sipped her carton of milk.

Yang shook her head as she attacked her chicken. "Not really. The vast majority of their strategy seems to focus on speed. Beyond that they don't seem to have many team moves, certainly not any that stood out as something they would use in the second round."

Weiss appeared next to the blonde and set her tray down carefully. "I still don't think we're going to learn anything from watching the first round videos," she continued as she took her seat. "After all, everyone _knows_ they're being recorded, so they aren't going to give anything away if they can help it." The white haired duelist dug into her salad.

Blake nodded: that made sense. She looked at her own half-eaten lunch. As she began to pick at it, a clearing throat from across the table caught her attention. Looking at her teammates, she saw them staring at each other, having a nonverbal argument. Suddenly Yang sat back with a small grin on her face, and Weiss' shoulders slumped marginally in some sort of defeat. Curious, Blake continued to watch, only to regret not leaving when the two suddenly looked at her.

"Blake, what's wrong?" Weiss somehow managed to sound both concerned and annoyed at the same time.

The cat faunus blinked. "Nothing." The two across from her exchanged another glance. Weiss had an 'I-told-you-so' look on her face, while Yang looked like she had bitten into a ripe lemon. "Okay, whatever you guys are doing, it needs to stop. I mean really, that level of communication is just creepy to watch."

The brawler gave her a glare that told her on no uncertain terms she was wrong, while Wiess just raised an eyebrow in a 'yeah right' look. Blake shook her head, dismissing her teammate's admonishments. After a few moments, Yang finally spoke.

"Not to be rude, but it's not like you to leave half a fish on your plate, Blake. If something isn't wrong then you're being im_purrrr_sonated."

The cat faunus rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, just have a lot on my mind."

"Like what?" Weiss wrinkled her brow. "Schoolwork?" She leaned in, suddenly serious. "Did you find out something else about the White Fang?"

Blake shook her head. "No, nothing like that. It's about Ruby." To her surprise her friends nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," Yang stabbed her meal a bit harder than necessary, "I tried to talk to her about her late night escapades, but all she said was that she wanted me to focus on the tournament."

"I spoke to her about it a bit," Weiss admitted, going back to her lunch, "but I could tell she was just humoring me. I didn't push, and maybe that was wrong, but I figured that it's on her to tell us when she feels like it."

Nodding, Blake went back to her own lunch. If everyone else had already spoken to Ruby about her dreams, the girl was probably expecting the cat faunus to do so as well. Taking a careful bite of the fish she chewed thoughtfully.

_"I guess I'll talk to her. I'd hate to defy her expectations."_

* * *

Talking to Ruby turned out to be a lot more difficult than Blake thought it would be. The girl seemed to be everywhere and nowhere all at once. After the third day of chasing her leader around Beacon, Vale, and the amphitheater, the cat faunus finally gave up on cornering her, and decided to let her prey come to her instead. That was what led to her curling up with a book and melting into the shadows along the hallway late that night after Wiess and Yang had gone to bed. Ruby still wasn't home, but she seemed to be staying out later and later these days. Blake clenched her fingers around her novel. If Penny hurt the little red clad girl, she- whatever 'she' was- would have a very angry faunus to deal with.

Actually, she would have a very angry huntress team to deal with, but that just meant that the line to beat up on the girl would be slightly longer. Besides the cat faunus was certain that Yang and Weiss would let her get a few good blows in too.

The book in her hands was really only for show of course, seeing as Blake was much more preoccupied with keeping an eye out for her wayward leader, but it served its purpose.

Too well.

Before she knew it, she had been dragged into the world of heros and villians, lovers and fighters, and it wasn't until she felt someone shaking her shoulder that she realized how out of it she had been. Looking up, she was surprised to see her quarry looking worriedly at her.

"Blake, what on Remnant are you doing out here?" The red clad girl was bending over her, her hand still on her shoulder. "Did you lock yourself out?"

The dark haired faunus stood up, wincing at the cracks and pops from her joints as her body complained at being held in the same position for the last couple hours. "No. I was just waiting." She didn't bother to explain, Ruby should know what she meant.

"What for?" Or not.

"You." Shrugging off the younger girl's hand, now limp with surprise, Blake motioned for her team leader to join her. "Do you mind walking with me to the roof Ruby?"

Ruby recovered fairly quickly, nodding her assent and matching Blake's pace without comment. The silence was only made more obvious by the fact that it was late, and many of the students were either still out, or asleep in preparation for the next day. Eventually the two had made their way to the roof where Ruby had talked to Blake last semester.

"Soooo…" Ruby began, after they had been standing for a couple minutes. "Nice night tonight."

Against her nature, Blake smiled. "Yes it is." She stared at the floating amphitheater across the city. "You know, I'm really jealous of you." Ruby shook her head at the question, even as the cat faunus wondered why she was admitting this.

"There's not a lot to be jealous about," The shorter girl said, a half smile playing on her lips. "I mean, I get that you're life has been harder, and I know I'm lucky when it comes to my family, but you're pretty amazing all on your own."

The cat faunus snorted. "I can fight. A skill I obtained by joining a terrorist group who even now hunt me. Beyond that I am not exactly amazing like the rest of you."

"Blake-" Ruby started, only to be waved off by the girl in question.

"Ruby, I am not as smart as Weiss, not as tactically gifted as you, and Yang is ten times the fighter I am." Sighing, the faunus tried to rien her self-loathing in. This wasn't about her, she was here for her leader, not the other way around this time.

"Is this about the tournament?" Ruby's voice was concerned. "I know we voted on this, but if you've been having problems-"

"No," Blake said resignedly, "it's not about the tournament. I'm sorry for bringing it up. I don't know why I did," and she really didn't. True she was a bit stressed, and there were days where she felt inadequate compared to her teammates, but it wasn't like her to just blurt out what was on her mind. Ruby opened her mouth to say something again, but Blake jumped in before she could say anything else, "This isn't about me. I just want to know how I can help _you!_"

Ruby blinked. "Help me with what?"

"Your nightmares." The younger girl's wince made the cat faunus feel a bit guilty, but she pushed it to the back of her mind.

"Look, Blake, I'm fine-" The faunus snorted.

"You've had three more sleepwalking incidents_ this week_ Ruby." Blake threw her hands in the air, exasperated. "The others have been training overtime to keep up with the tournament and they slept through it, but it's only a matter of time before they notice." She took a deep breath, and continued. "You brushed off Yang and diverted Weiss, but they're still worried, they just are too busy to confront you right now."

Ruby looked like she wanted to cry. "Blake, I don't want to distract them. They have enough to worry about with the tournament-"

"You can tell me though." The black haired faunus pointed out. "I realize I haven't been clear about this, but you can definitely tell me anything you want to."

"And if I say I don't have anything that I want to tell you?"

Blake shrugged. "I don't care, but whatever you do, you need to tell someone."

"How do you know I haven't already?" Ruby was giving the taller girl a glare. "For all you know, I might have-"

"You haven't." The cat faunus interrupted calmly. "I could be wrong, but I'm not." The glare from the younger girl didn't phase her in the slightest. "I've seen others go through this Ruby, and they always said that things got better after they talked it out."

"You don't know that," the shorter girl hissed, "and even if you did, there's no reason that that would be universally true."

Blake took a step back at the hostility her friend was displaying. "Ruby, I'm worried- and so is the rest of the team. Something happened down there, and I, for one, want to make sure you're okay."

Ruby stared at her for a moment, before taking a few deep breaths and visibly calming, a bit of fear showing through her cracking facade. "I… see; and if I say that I'm fine?"

"I certainly won't believe it."

Sighing heavily, the younger girl fell to her knees, deflating as the anger crumbled into sadness. "It's nothing. Just stupid thoughts about how it was my fault you guys nearly died."

Blake sat down cross legged next to her friend. "Why do you think that?"

"I _don't_." Ruby said, frustration coloring her voice. "It's still driving me nuts though, and it's making me doubt that I'm doing the right things. I'm the leader of a huntress team, and I nearly lost my entire team during a single mission; a mission that I made sure we could get."

"It was Ozpin who allowed us to go." The cat faunus pointed out reasonably.

"Because I knew he has a soft spot for me." Ruby said resignedly, tracing formless patterns on the shingles. "I know what I did was right, but all my brain can do is tell me how I nearly got my team killed their first year."

Blake closed her eyes, half relieved because she knew how to help, half nervous because she was going to have to tell a story she didn't really like. But first, "Ruby, I need to know; what happened between you and Torchwick when you fell into the city?"

The younger girl looked surprised at the subject change. "Nothing really. He took some cheap shots at me since I didn't have Crescent Rose and he was bigger than me, but I got by him and ran into you guys. There really wasn't much else. Why?"

"Doesn't matter." Blake said, relieved that all that her friend had to deal with were a few bruises. "What is important is about your dreams, I think I can help. Or at least empathize."

Ruby looked at her. "What? How?"

"I… had a similar experience." The cat faunus admitted reluctantly. When her friend looked at her with wide, surprised eyes, she explained. "We were hitting a dust mine in southern Vale. I had three faunus that I was in charge of: Jason, a lion faunus, Indigo, a jackal faunus, and Andre, a gorilla faunus. Our job was to go into the mine and get the dust." Taking a deep breath, Blake pushed on, reliving memories she'd long buried. "Indigo and I were covering the exit while Jason and Andre were getting the dust when it happened. There was a loud blast, and Indigo shoved me out of the way as the foreman collapsed the mine on top of my team." She blinked tears out of her eyes as she remembered the shock and pain of that night. "I had made the call to leave him alone." She whispered, burying her face in her hands. "I had told Adam to leave him alone, that one man wasn't a threat... and he killed my team." She felt arms go around her shoulders as she continued to cry. "I found out later that it was a trap. The mine had gone dry a while ago and the entire thing was just a ploy to try to kill a few faunus. For a while after that I just kind of existed. Ilia, a friend of mine, helped me get back on my feet, but the real damage was done to Adam. While I was… distracted, he began to get much more… extreme. If I had been paying attention then I might have been able to change his mind…" She trailed off, letting the tears fall and leaning a bit into the hug Ruby was giving her.

"It wasn't your fault." The younger huntress trainee murmured, and Blake choked on a sob as she tried to laugh.

"No. It wasn't. But sometimes I relive that day over in my sleep, and I can see my mistakes, or I can see myself making worse mistakes." She sighed as she pulled out of the hug. "Ilia told me this after a while, and I'm going to modify it a bit and tell you." She wiped her eyes, before meeting her leader's silver gaze. "Ruby, you did the right thing. I know that what happened wasn't what we were hoping for, but it's turned out all right. You made a hard call, and while it didn't work perfectly, it did work." She looked away as she finished her thought, muttering, "Everyone came home after all."

An arm fell across her shoulders and gave her a bit of a squeeze in thanks and support, but no words were needed. Silence fell between the two, each lost in their own thoughts. Eventually Ruby spoke.

"I… I'm afraid Blake." The red clad girl stared up at the stars. "Uncle Qrow pointed out that crime has completely stopped in Vale, as though everyone is waiting for something. Then there was the break in during the dance, it feels as though the whole world is holding its breath."

"The calm before the storm." Blake agreed. "You aren't the only one. Sun, Coco, and I were talking about it the other day. There's something coming. Something big."

"Just promise me one thing." Ruby looked at her, concern radiating from her eyes. "If something happens, and I can't be there, keep the others safe."

Blake felt her eyes open wide. "What? What about Weiss?" A snort of laughter was not the response she had expected.

"Wiess is…" Ruby began, still chuckling. "I love her, but she models herself too much after Winter."

"That's a problem?" The cat faunus asked.

"Yang models herself after Uncle Qrow." The younger girl explained.

Blake chuckled as she remembered the story of the less-than-cordial meeting between Weiss' sister and Ruby and Yang's uncle. "Yeah, that makes sense."

Rising, Ruby glanced at the city far away. "You promise you'll do whatever you have to to keep them safe?"

"I promise." Rising, the dark haired faunus stood next to her friend. After a few minutes, she added, "You know that there's no way that any of team RWBY will let anything happen that will keep you from being there, right?" The younger girl didn't smile at that. Instead, her eyes continued to study the distant skyline.

"Call it a gut feeling." She finally looked at Blake. "I don't get them often, but I've found that things go better if I humor them."

The cat faunus put her hand on the other girl's arm. "I've got your back Ruby. No matter what." Turning to go back in, she wasn't sure, but she thought she heard her friend respond.

"I've got your back too Blake."

* * *

_"...You'll do whatever you have to to keep them safe."_

She was a wanted woman. The terrorist group that had chased her across the continent had stripped away the only protection she had. Her team was disabled, one departed across the continent, another recovering in the hospital as doctors pumped blood back into her to replace all that she had lost when her arm had been cut off; and the youngest… She closed her eyes sadly as she thought back to the last view she'd had of Ruby, a small unconscious bundle in her uncle's arms.

She did the best thing she could do for her team: she disappeared. Adam couldn't find them if he was looking for her. He wouldn't find them if she didn't know where they were. So she boarded a boat (ew, water) and tore off the bow, dropping it into the water below. He had until she got to Manajeri to catch her. If he failed, then she would be free; only a fool would murder the chief's daughter in her own home. For now she would keep his eyes locked on her, his mind on her, and his plans away from the rest of her team.

_"I promise Ruby. I'll do what's best for all of us."_

* * *

**Title Credit: None this time. The muse stopped by, so she wrote it.**

**Working Title: Night Terrors**

**R&R**


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